Increased coffee consumption linked with lower risk of death in dual international studies

Drinking more coffee is associated with a lower risk of death among people of various ethnicities and cultures, according to new research.
Greater coffee intake was also shown to be linked to a lower risk of death due to diabetes, heart disease, cancer, stroke and other health complications.
Two new studies revealed that drinking three to five cups of coffee per day could be incorporated into a healthy diet, but further research is needed to assess if coffee could actually help prevent some chronic diseases from developing.
The first study focused on non-white populations in the US. After 16.2 years of follow-up, those found to drink one cup of coffee per day and two to three cups per day had a 12 and 18 per cent reduced risk of death, respectively.
The risk of death was also lower for people with diabetes, heart disease, cancer, chronic lower respiratory disease, stroke and kidney disease.
These results were applicable to four different ethnicities, without safety concerns, and backed the argument that coffee is good for you regardless of ethnicity.
In the second study, scientists from the International Agency for Research on Cancer in Lyon evaluated coffee intake and mortality risk on 521,330 European participants.
Again, statistically significant lower all-cause mortality was observed for those who drank more coffee, while death from a variety of diseases, such as circulatory disease, was also lower.
Lead author Marc J. Gunter, PhD and colleagues then evaluated coffee consumption and biomarkers of liver function, inflammation and metabolic health.
Gunter explained: “We found that higher coffee consumption was associated with a lower risk of death from any cause, and specifically for circulatory diseases, and digestive diseases. Importantly, these results were similar across all of the 10 European countries, with variable coffee drinking habits and customs. Our study also offers important insights into the possible mechanisms for the beneficial health effects of coffee.”
Both study teams stressed more research is needed to determine which coffee compound could have these health benefits.
In an accompanying editorial, Dr Eliseo Guallar, from Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, and colleagues said: “Recommending coffee intake to reduce mortality or prevent chronic disease would be premature. However, it is increasingly evident that moderate coffee intake up to three to five cups per day or caffeine intake up to 400 mg/d is not associated with adverse health effects in adults and can be incorporated into a healthy diet.”
Both studies were published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.